Letters to the Editor: Destruction of trees

Strong resentment prevails among the residents of Gaushala in Maligaon, a Railway township, for a number of age-old trees have been mercilessly chopped off by the Railway authorities. Such trees had been planted decades ago with a view to maintain the ecological balance of the Maligaon area. These trees not only provided shade to the pedestrians and bystanders in that area, but also served as a safe haven and housed birds of different species.

I would like to draw the attention of the Railway authorities to rectify such wrongdoing and urge them to plant more trees in the Gol Park area of the Gaushala so that the greenery of the said area could be maintained.

Lopamudra Choudhury,

Guwahati- 781016.

Weight of school bags

To carry a weight more than 15 kg on the back of a school student is a serious matter. A student has to do the same the whole week, except on holidays. It is a great burden for the children which may cause great harm to their backbone. The Directorate of Education has issued a circular asking schools to follow the new 'School Bag Policy, 2020' released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) which states that the weight of the school bags, as per the policy, should be 1.6 to 2.2 kg for students of Classes I and II, 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes III, IV and V, 2 to 3 kg for Classes VI and VII, 2.5 to 4 kg for Class VIII, 2.5 to 4.5 kg for Classes IX and X and 3.5 to 5 kg for Classes XI and XII.

It should be the duty of the school authorities to take measures to manage the weight load of their students according to the specified guidelines. Watching my grandchild who is in class VI, carrying such a load on her back day after day at such a tender age is unwatchable as the weight load she has to bear is tiring her out and she gets exhausted, leaving little energy for other activities. Through your esteemed daily I would like to request the authorities to look into this neglected but very important matter and relieve the students from the burden of their heavy school bags as soon as possible.

Ajit Das

Mankachar, Assam

Lakshman Rekha

Recently there was a joint conference among the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Chief Ministers. In the joint conference, the CJI made a very significant observation about the separation of power provided by the Constitution to three organs while discharging their duties and cautioned the three organs (executive, legislature and judiciary) not to cross the lakshman rekha, which of late has started happening, causing alarm among the bonafide citizens. The three organs as mentioned by the CJI must uphold the democratic foundation of the nation at any cost. The CJI correctly mentioned about PIL which has now in fact, become a Personal Interest Litigation and has devalued the real meaning of PIL. After going through the deliberations in the joint conference, it appears as if there are some shortcomings in the three organs while discharging their roles and duties.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury

Guwahati.

Mitigating people's hardships

For a few years, the country has been in the stranglehold of two major ills, namely, price rise and unemployment. These two problems are also worrying for Assam. The prices of essential items like cooking gas, auto fuels, food items etc. are soaring unchecked without any visible action from the authorities concerned to check the price hike. As a result, the cost of living has gone out of reach of the poor and the people living on the fringes of the society. Immediate steps to rein in the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities are the pressing need.

Secondly, joblessness and poverty go hand in hand. The state's employment scenario has never been promising due to lack of industries. Few decades ago, small industries for garment manufacture, sugar production, edible oils etc. were established in a few places of Assam. Though they were a handful in comparison of the large number of job seekers in the state, the move showed encouraging results initially. Due to mismanagement, corruption and lethargy, all these were prematurely closed and abandoned. We have seen in these recent years how the two paper mills in the state were closed down.

The state has huge potential to develop industries, namely, textiles, expansion of bamboo handicraft, sugar industries etc. Assam is home to the prestigious muga silk, the golden thread known for its durability. Besides, there is pat and edi silk which are being used in manufacture of clothes. By setting up sugar industries, the government can back sugarcane farmers and encourage them to grow more sugarcane. Like the developed states of the country, Assam will have to go for industrialization to guarantee creation of more jobs. Moreover, Assam is a great tourist destination. The state must capitalize on nature's bounty with hills, green forest vegetation, rivers, lakes, ancient shrines, monuments etc all across the state which always draw domestic tourists as well as tourists from other states and abroad.

The government has announced various economic schemes which need to be monitored on a routine basis to ensure completion of projects on time so that results can be seen on the ground.

Pannalal Dey

Guwahati.